Washington, D.C. – Wade Henderson and Nancy Zirkin, president and executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following joint statement on President Obama’s debt reduction initiative:

“President Obama’s balanced plan for reducing the deficit is the right approach. It not only pays for the job creation we need now, but would also put our nation on stronger fiscal footing so we can continue to make important investments for the future.

Creating good jobs now is by far the most effective way to reduce the deficit, which is why Congress should pass the American Jobs Act without delay.

The plan acknowledges that we can’t – and shouldn’t – slash our way out of deficits that have been years in the making, and that such cuts would be counterproductive to boosting economic growth and protecting critical government programs that provide economic security to middle- and low-income families. For that reason, we have serious concerns about the burden the proposed Medicaid cuts to states would place on vulnerable individuals and families, and would ask that Congress and the administration can work together to find additional revenue or less harmful cuts in other areas.

Instead of job-killing cuts, Congress should follow the president’s lead by adopting measured spending reductions and eliminating wasteful and unfair tax giveaways – including the Bush-era tax cuts for millionaires – which will reduce the deficit without damaging economic growth, weakening the middle class, or adding to unemployment.”

Wade Henderson is president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Nancy Zirkin is the executive vice president for policy at The Leadership Conference, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.